BJGP Life – Page 5

Knowledge, wisdom, and following the blue line

...it is often difficult to know in the middle of a consultation how to bridge the gap between the abstract certainties of current best practice and the needs of our patients, which are at once more concrete, more personal, and usually harder

14 August 2025

4 mins read

Arts

The Waiting Room

"I go into the waiting room for the next patient I am too see. So many sit there staring, yet not all are waiting for me." – Poem by Giles Dawney

13 August 2025

1 min read

1

Arts·BJGP Long Read·Opinion

What does the fallout from the ‘Salt Path’ saga tell us about our society’s ideas about chronic illness and exercise?

The premise of 'The Salt Path' is that a couple is blamelessly made homeless, at the same time as the husband is diagnosed with a 'terminal condition', after which they decide to walk the South West Coast Path, and with doing that

12 August 2025

7 mins read

4

BJGP Long Read·Opinion·Research

Yonder: physicians’ end of life care preferences, diagnostic labels, electronic health record interoperability, opioid prescriptions

This months selection includes: physicians' end of life care preferences, diagnostic labels, electronic health record interoperability, opioid prescriptions

11 August 2025

3 mins read

Book review

Book review: Speak, Memorably: The Art of Captivating an Audience

"McGowan and Juliana Silva are communication experts who help people find their distinctive voice, improve how they speak, and present their ideas. They provide simple, and practical advice." – Terry Kemple reviews Speak, Memorably: The Art of Captivating an Audience

9 August 2025

3 mins read

Arts·BJGP Long Read·Bright Ideas and Innovation·Opinion

Teaching Medicine with Poetry

The power that this poetic language can have in teaching is often in the endings that provide moral or philosophical reflections on illness which is the “kicker” or message that you want to leave with the student. There is now an extensive literature

8 August 2025

5 mins read

1

Bright Ideas and Innovation·Opinion

Living Streets Walking Summit: a GP perspective

I first started noticing how little attention we pay to walking a few years ago. That was one of the reasons I attended the Living Streets Walking Summit in 2023. I came away feeling refreshed and reconnected to a bigger, beautiful picture

7 August 2025

4 mins read

Book review

Book review: Kaiser Frederick’s Throat

"In this historical novel, Mike Pringle, former Royal College of General Practitioners Chair of Council and President, has written a gripping tale of how professional and political rivalry led to the mismanagement of Queen Victoria’s son-in-law with devastating consequences ..."

6 August 2025

1 min read

BJGP Long Read·Opinion

The double-edged sword: AI Scribes in an overstretched NHS

"One figure that stood out for me was that "AI scribes will end the need for clinical notetaking … (and) can save the same time as adding 2,000 more doctors into general practice..." Shier Ziser Dawood suggest the buyer should beware.

5 August 2025

5 mins read

BJGP Long Read·Opinion·Stories

A GP at 10: An invitation to celebrate public service

"The vagueness, of course, only added to the mystery. Why had I been invited?" Joshua Nivern reflects on being invited to 10 Downing Street.

31 July 2025

6 mins read

BJGP Long Read·Book review

Book review: Searching for Normal: A New Approach to Understanding Mental Health, Distress and Neurodiversity

"In our ‘mindful’ generation, we have seen a rise in mental health awareness and a burgeoning focus on wellbeing. Yet rates of mental illnesses are still skyrocketing. Where have we gone wrong? In this provocative book, Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist Sami

30 July 2025

8 mins read

1

BJGP Long Read·Clinical·International

The Planned Treatment Scheme (S2 funding): an alternative to long NHS waiting lists or private care

"The Planned Treatment Scheme (S2 funding route) enables eligible patients to access NHS funding for planned medical treatment in the state healthcare system of an EU country, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, or Liechtenstein. Unfortunately, there seems to be limited awareness of the S2

29 July 2025

7 mins read

1

Opinion·Research

The absurdity of GP funding in Wales

"The premise of this formula (Carr-Hill) is very reasonable and fair. Sadly, it doesn’t always work, partly due to at least two anomalies in the formula. To understand this, we’ve had to employ a fair degree of nerdery as the formula is

28 July 2025

3 mins read

BJGP Long Read·Opinion

Long Covid and the body: can we move beyond judgements?

Elke Hausmann wants to discuss how we understand the body, and how that can leave patients with Long Covid at the receiving end of judgements. She argues that we need to put judgements aside, and develop an approach that sees the body

24 July 2025

15 mins read

GP Journal Club·Opinion

Your brain on ChatGPT – one for the journal club!

The researchers coined the term "cognitive debt" to describe how LLMs spare the user mental effort in the short term but generate long-term costs including diminished critical thinking, reduced creativity and independent thought, increased vulnerability to bias and manipulation, and shallow information

23 July 2025

3 mins read

Arts·Opinion

Samples (poem)

Our patients leave the room yet now some of them left behind. To be taken elsewhere, a fraction of body now extracted from mind.

22 July 2025

1 min read

BJGP Long Read·Opinion

On not being paternalistic

...maybe thinking of ourselves as being maternalistic acknowledges existing authority, and allows us to aim for our patients to thrive, to be in control of their destinies, guided by caring, wise professionals.

21 July 2025

2 mins read

Arts·BJGP Long Read

Between inner sound and spoken word: Reflections on jazz, silence, and the unfolding art of the consultation

Jazz, like the consultation, is a practice fundamentally shaped by silence, listening, and shared creation. Marcus Lewis reflects on how he uses Jazz for general practice and GP education.

19 July 2025

14 mins read

BJGP Long Read·Opinion

The clinician’s narrative and the patient’s narrative are ontologically equivalent

According to Miranda Fricker, epistemic injustice occurs when an individual is wronged in their capacity as a knower. Yuya Yokota argues that argue that Gabriel's concept of “fields of sense” reveals this to be not just an ethical failing but an ontological

18 July 2025

3 mins read

2

BJGP Long Read·Opinion

On a knife edge in Scotland – A view from the deep end

An outbreak of violence is spreading across Scotland - not linked to gangs or organised crime. This time, the offenders are children. To stop this surge, Scotland must urgently invest in mental health services, youth programs, and community resources...

17 July 2025

5 mins read

Arts·Opinion·Stories

A poem: Heart failure.

Using a narrative based approach can also enrich our own perspective and give us boldness to hold back from encasing patients in the tight algorithms that chronic disease management is often associated with. Becca Quinn offers a reframing poem.

16 July 2025

1 min read

BJGP Long Read·Clinical·Opinion

Should we be bothered that we are losing a QOF indicator for people with SMI?

This focus on cardiovascular risk is understandable, but it is not clear why the requirement to maintain a register of people with SMI has been removed, other than possibly to free up financial resources.

15 July 2025

4 mins read

1

BJGP Long Read·Clinical·Opinion

ADHD – Overdiagnosis or Opportunity?

The inherent co-occurrence of multiple physical and mental health disorders associated with neurodivergence underscores the need for a broad, holistic clinical lens in assessment. This presents a crucial opportunity for primary care...

14 July 2025

5 mins read

Submitted

Fixation error: When thinking fast becomes a patient safety risk

Fixation error happens when a clinician locks onto a particular diagnosis or route of action. It can mean that we become so focussed on one problem we think we can solve, and fail to see the mounting evidence that we might be

11 July 2025

5 mins read

BJGP Long Read·Clinical·Opinion

Pain management in rehabilitation: A call for integrated, patient-centred approaches

Effective pain management is fundamental to rehabilitation. The body cannot heal while in constant distress. Rehabilitation and primary care teams must embrace the reality that pain is not just a symptom to be medicated...

10 July 2025

4 mins read

BJGP Long Read·Opinion

Technology and values in general practice

The real question is not whether AI can make GPs more efficient, but whether it can uphold the artisanal values of general practice at a time when efficiency seems to be all that matters.

9 July 2025

5 mins read

Bright Ideas and Innovation·Opinion

Prompt injection attacks: an inherent vulnerability of healthcare AI agents

Richard Armitage worries that a successful attack on an AI agent in general practice could expose entire practice databases of highly sensitive information.

8 July 2025

2 mins read

Clinical·Opinion·Research

Yonder: menstrual cups and IUD displacement, deprived area GP retention, endometriosis diagnosis, patient assertiveness

Alex Burrell looks at papers on menstrual cups and IUD displacement, deprived area GP retention, endometriosis diagnosis, and patient assertiveness.

7 July 2025

3 mins read

Arts·BJGP Long Read·Opinion·Undergraduate

The Fall of Icarus: Using art to teach medical students about planetary health

Using art can help students connect a patient's condition to the broader impacts of planetary health ... GPs should encourage students to examine this remarkable situation, even if others decide it is easier to look away.

5 July 2025

3 mins read

BJGP Long Read·Bright Ideas and Innovation

Embedding sustainability in primary care practice: Reflections on the Green Impact for Health Toolkit in City and Hackney

In 2024-25, 29 GP practices in London's City and Hackney were incentivised to engage with greener practice. Mareeni Raymond hopes that readers will see that greener practice is achievable and that good practice can be shared.

4 July 2025

4 mins read

BJGP Long Read·News·Opinion

Women GPs and the NHS Ten-Year Plan: Is now the time to thrive?

The manifesto details concrete actions for individuals, organisations and the government to help retain women doctors. This manifesto comes at an important time, as we await the NHS Ten Year Plan.

3 July 2025

3 mins read

BJGP Long Read·News·Opinion

A 10-Year Health Plan that puts patients first: the RCGP’s vision

The Government has already set out three key shifts for the plan to turn into reality: from hospital to community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention. These are laudable, but we need to ensure that they're backed up with action and

2 July 2025

5 mins read

Clinical·Podcast·Videos

Episode 209: What do patients really want? Rethinking general practice access

In this episode, we speak to Professor Helen Atherton about access to general practice.

1 July 2025

1 min read

Clinical·Opinion·Research

Is it time to retire the digital rectal exam?

"The British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS) has called for the exam to be omitted from primary care’s assessment of prostate cancer. Asking, ‘Is it time to retire the DRE?’ allows for reconsideration of patient assessment with a view to improving patient

30 June 2025

5 mins read

1

Book review

Book review: Maybe I’m Amazed: A Story of Love and Connection in Ten Songs

"John Harris’s book helps us all. Yes, it benchmarks current knowledge on neurodiversity but, much more importantly, with the clarity of an experienced newspaper and music magazine columnist, Harris, a family man and father of a son labelled as having autism, describes

28 June 2025

4 mins read

Arts·Opinion·Stories

I knew her smile…

A knock on the door. First patient of the day. “Hello… come in,” I say. I didn’t recognise the name, But I knew her smile. A poem by Rahhiel Riasat

26 June 2025

2 mins read

BJGP Long Read·Opinion

Devalued: The financial erosion of the GP role

GPs across the UK are facing a decline in income, with the impact felt across all contractual roles. This stagnation and decline in GP pay is exacerbating already-significant pressures and declining morale across the profession.

25 June 2025

5 mins read

BJGP Long Read·Opinion

An Ode to my first practice … Let it not be an elegy to my profession

Here is a group of GPs who have given their all for their patients, and the reward has been disillusionment and financial decimation. This is not just a personal tragedy; it is a warning about the future of primary care in the

24 June 2025

3 mins read

1

BJGP Long Read·Book review·Opinion

Ethical Erosion

As a profession, our inability—or perhaps reluctance—to step back and reflect on practices that may need to change has no doubt contributed to our ethical erosion. But we are capable of change and reform both individually and collectively...

23 June 2025

5 mins read

Book review

A Story is a Deal, by Will Storr

To echo the book’s strapline, I would urge anyone who needs to lead, motivate and persuade to read A Story is a Deal and put into practice many of the learnings that Storr provides in this practical and compelling book.

21 June 2025

2 mins read

1

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